With the hopes of the nation resting on their broad shoulders, Britain's cycling heroes set out on the road in the hunt for medals in the men's road race.

Starting against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace, reigning world champion, the fastest man on the planet, Mark Cavendish led off the five man British team.

Huge crowds starting lining the route in London and Surrey from early in the morning to watch Cavendish and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins in the race.

Seen off by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and thousands of Union flag waving spectators at 10 o'clock, the Road Race shot along the The Mall before the riders headed south-west out the city, heading out to cross the River Thames at Putney Bridge continuing out through Richmond Park, Bushy Park and past Hampton Court Palace.

Ahead of them, the Surrey section of the course included nine strength-sapping laps up and down Box Hill before the riders headed north through Leatherhead, Esher, Kingston-upon-Thames, Richmond Park and back to The Mall for the dramatic finish nearly six hours later.

Lining the route, hanging out of windows and covering every vantage point, the racers, and the British heroes of the Tour de France, in particular, will be greeted by hundreds of thousands of cheering, passionate spectators, craning their necks, holding their children aloft, to get a glimpse of the action as the racers shot passed, a blur of men and machines.

Before the race Cavendish was exuded confidence, believing he can win gold at London 2012, with the help of his "dream team". The Manx-born cyclist described his chances of winning last week as "doable".

He said. "I couldn't do it if I was doing this alone but I need four of the strongest bike riders in the world to help me.

"And I have got four of the strongest bike riders in the world to help me."

Bradley Wiggins, who made history in Paris when he became the first Briton to win the Tour, Ian Stannard, the 2012 British National Road Race champion, David Millar and Chris Froome, who both won stages at this year's Tour de France, make up the Great Britain road race team.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday as the team prepared for glory, Cavendish said "We were out training and it was like 'Oh My God, this is the dream team'. Hopefully we can put that into practice and deliver the results.".

"We have got four Tour de France stage winners in the team, first and second in the general classification and the British champion Tour de France 2012 British stage winner.

Cavendish, 27, missed out on a medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when he and Wiggins finished eighth in the madison.

He vowed after that never to return to track racing, instead preferring to focus his efforts on the road. "Every time I pull on the jersey to represent the union flag it's a big honour for me," he said.

"To represent my country - to ride as part of a team who are doing it for their country and not for a commercial wage - is a big, big thing.

"On a personal level it will be one of the biggest things - if not the biggest thing - that we can do."

Speaking about the 156 mile Olympic course, he added: "It's narrow and it's dangerous on the approach in," said Wiggins. "You're going to have to be in the front because if there is a crash then it will block the road, so there's all those things to contend with.

"It's going to be difficult and it's a long race as well but I think other teams will be looking at us and thinking, 'How are we going to compete with these guys?'

"And we're just sitting here not really worrying about the rest; we're just concentrating on ourselves."